Roundup: Nadezhda Crash, Ekat Pass Test

There was plenty to ponder in the Russian League over the weekend as Nadezhda were routed and fellow EuroLeague Women side UMMC Ekaterinburg had to work hard to preserve their unbeaten status.

Nadezhda travelled to face a Dynamo Moscow team who had suffered a disappointing one-point home loss to Tarbes in theirEuroCup Women Eighth-Final first-leg last week, and the visitors from Orenburg felt the full backlash.

The home team produced a fantastic success, routing their opponents 88-68. Dinamo Moscow trashed Nadezhda 60-32 on the glass with Crystal Langhorne claiming 22 points and 16 rebounds to ensure guests suffered their second league loss of the campaign.

Dynamo Kursk went into the weekend with only one loss, and were rightfully confident taking on the undefeated UMMC Ekaterinburg. But, despite a superb 35-point haul from Epiphanny Prince, Kursk couldn't avoid going down 77-66, with the visitors moving to their seventh win in seven games, as Diana Taurasi harvested 22 points and seven assists.

Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje meanwhile had to come from behind at the end of the third quarter to claim a 79-72 home success against Chevakata

Sparta&K's EuroLeague Women rivals, Uni Gyor, suffered a disappointing domestic result over the weekend, losing 78-73 at Bacsbasket KFT to slip to a third loss in the Hungarian League. That gives complete control to UE Sopron who still have a perfect record of 13 wins from 13 games

Like UMMC Ekaterinburg, Fenerbahce are also yet to taste domestic defeat after an eighth consecutive success in the Turkish League, courtesy of a 78-55 win at Samsun. Polish star Agnieszka Bibrzycka top-scored for the Istanbul club with 19 points.

Evanthia Maltsi's fine season continued for Kayseri Kaski spor at the weekend, as she picked up 26 points

Still waiting to pounce in the wings are both Galatasaray and Kayseri Kaski spor who both have a solitary loss. The former cruised to a 71-56 home win against Canik Belediye as Sancho Lyttle claimed a double-double in points and rebounds, whilst the latter also prevailed at home, with an 84-76 success against Antakya. Evanthia Maltsi continued her great season with 26 points, whilst Asjha Jones did well to corral 19 points and 13 rebounds against a strong Antakya frontcourt.

Tarsus Belediye are beginning to gather some momentum in the chasing pack, having dug out a tough and impressive 64-60 road win at Istanbul University to improve to moving to a 5-3 record, whilst Shavonte Zellous was the highest scorer of the weekend in Turkey with 34 points to help Mersin power to an 83-68 win at Edremit.

There was an exciting all-EuroLeague Women match-up in France as Bourges shrugged off the absence of Swedish shooting ace Frida Eldebrink to clinch a thrilling 60-59 home win against USO Mondeville. The visitors looked set to escape with an impressive victory but ended up fouling Endene Miyem in the last second, with Miyem going on to sink the free-throws which to decide the result. She also top-scored for the winning team with 16 points.

Second-from-bottom Arras were undone 68-57 at Nantes Reze, but even more worrying was the way that Hainaut were dismantled 78-58 at Basket Landes as Carmen Guzman poured in 20 points for the hosts to leave the visitors looking up at everybody else with just one win from the first 12 games of the season.

There were few surprises in Liga Femenina over the weekend as all five home teams racked up wins, including the three top-placed clubs. Rivas Ecopolis coasted to a 63-42 success against CB Bembibre PDM with Anna Cruz adding 16 points, whilst Uni Girona also won comfortably, 66-53 against Ciudad De Burgos.

Perfumerias Avenida had to work the hardest of the trio, eventually seeing off Recreativo Conquero 74-66, but not before Joanna Walich had produced a magical 34-point performance for the visitors.